Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa Ethics and Campaign Disclosure Board says Governor Terry Branstad’s former chief of staff may not immediately lobby the governor’s office, but can interact with his former colleagues. Jeff Boeyink recently left the administration and joined a Des Moines-based consulting firm. On Thursday the board responded to a request from his attorney for an opinion outlining how he must abide by state rules.

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) — Authorities have captured a 20-year-old man suspected of killing an Iowa man and dumping his body in South Dakota. Sioux City police say a phone tip yesterday led to the arrest of Martin Castellanos. He was arrested in Sioux City.

MOUNT PLEASANT, Iowa (AP) — A patrol car video presented in the trial of a former Iowa jail guard accused of killing his pregnant wife includes the sounds of him sobbing and pledging to kill the person responsible for her death. Seth Techel is heard sobbing as he tells a deputy in the video that he jumped out of the shower after he heard a gunshot, then grabbed a handgun and ran down a hallway.

ORANGE CITY, Iowa (AP) — A day care provider in northwest Iowa has been accused of severely abusing a 3-year-old girl. The state Division of Criminal Investigation says 33-year-old Rochelle Lynn Sapp was arrested yesterday in Orange City. The girl was taken to a hospital Tuesday with serious head injuries, including a fractured skull and brain trauma.

The Cass County Sheriff’s Office Thursday, released more information about a shooting incident that took place Wednesday morning, in Marne. Officials say at 10-a.m., the Sheriff’s Office responded to a report of an individual with a self-inflicted gunshot wound in Marne. Upon investigation, 43-year old Scott Edward Sullivan, of Marne, was pronounced deceased from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Cass County Engineer Charles Marker has issued an apology for a comment he made last week at the Board of Supervisors’ meeting. During the meeting, Marker, who was speaking about a bridge construction project, said one of the projects was running behind because a subcontractor had not been able to complete their portion of the project. Marker said based on Federal law, the County is required to have a certain percentage of all projects to minority sub-contractors.

But then he added “You can see what that gets us into…we’re sitting there just waiting on a minority contractor to show up ‘cuz they’ve got other jobs they’re workin’ on, and I guess they don’t get in a hurry. But we’re required to do that and there’s no way around it under federal guidelines.”

That comment irritated an Atlantic resident, who called KJAN News and requested a copy of the audio from the meeting. KJAN provided Marker with a copy of the audio, as well. At Thursday’s Board of Supervisor’s meeting, Marker clarified his statement and apologized if his previous comment offended anyone.

He said quote – “It was not my intent to imply that they {the subcontractor} was procrastinating or would be doing substandard work. I was only trying to explain the County could not open the bridge until all parts of the contract were completed, both those of the contractor and the subcontractor. As stated during last week’s report, they were already working on other projects, and it was not clear how soon they would be available to complete our guardrail {on the bridge near the research farm}. So, if my report was offensive and unclear, I apologize, but it was not my intent to offend anybody.”

The Board thanked Marker for his report and public apology.

The Cass County Board of Supervisors, Thursday, approved the hiring of a new Geographic Information Systems coordinator. Treasurer Tracey Marshall introduced to the board Mary Steinlicht, who has moved to the area from Bemidji, MN. Mary said she used to work for the NRCS – Natural Resources Conservation Service – in Bemidji. She graduated about a year and a half ago from Bemidji State University. She says she already has several projects lined-up to work on in Cass County.

In August, Cass County Assessor Brenda Nelson asked for and received the Board’s permission to approve the creation of the position, and to proceed with steps necessary to fill the position. At the time, Nelson said she has the money in this year’s budget for the new hire’s salary and benefits.

In subsequent years, other departments within the County that heavily utilize GIS, would chip in to cover the salary and benefits. Nelson, Cass County Engineer Charles Marker and Treasurer Tracey Marshall all agreed that having a GIS specialist in-house, instead of outsourcing the position would be a time-saver for them, and a great benefit to the taxpayers.